The technicians at the scene tried their best to repair the consoles and information terminals that had been abandoned for tens of thousands of years and may have suffered serious damage. Most of them crashed soon after they were activated. Their core components seemed to have been destroyed by an energy impact that far exceeded the design value. Perhaps when the workstation was separated from its main body, the surge in the main pipeline destroyed the sensitive equipment here, or it could be an accident in the sample analysis room that caused the place to be abandoned. In short, what had happened in this workstation, or even in this universe, was now untraceable. We could only hope to get some answers from the few other devices that were barely activated and had yet to burn down.
"They can run for about thirty minutes at most. Part of the core is damaged, and the data transfer has failed. Now, I'm trying to extract as much important information as possible according to the records in these devices." A senior technician was working quickly in front of a buzzing MDT. The side panel of this antique had been removed, and the crystallized grid inside was bursting with abnormal psionic sparks. It was a sign that the system's security lock had failed, but it was still working, and the irreparable processing core could still provide basic query services to the user before it burned down. Soon, a shaky text appeared in the center of the holographic image above the MDT: Operator identity verified. Extracting recent system logs … Time clock verification failed. Unable to connect to data network. Offline mode. System time reset to initial date. This machine can provide limited inquiry service.
"Search for the last local research project," I said at once.
"Keywords: search, local intelligence, last research." The system delayed for a second or two before it started to work. Then, a series of images appeared on the holographic projection, including dynamic images. These were probably images from the time when the workstation was not abandoned, images of the laboratory, and some outdoor footage. A few of the images were pitch black, with the words "Data Corrupted" displayed in the center, but the rest of the images were relatively clear. They showed the busy work in the sample analysis room, as well as the true appearance of the research sample hovering on the gravity-free platform in the middle of the room: some distorted ores that looked like rocks that had been dragged directly from the asteroid belt.
We zoomed in and paused on the rocks. They were grayish-black in color, and some parts of the surface were covered with traces of melting and some loose holes. They were not much different from ordinary asteroid ores, but it was obvious that they were the last research samples of the workstation before it was abandoned. Research rocks?
That bunch of scientists from the Empire who dared to casually rewrite the laws of the universe had built such a huge storm system and high-tech workstation just to study the rocks inside? Were these rocks the ones that had monkeys jumping out of them back then?
Just as I was about to complain, I saw another image out of the corner of my eye. It was taken from a slightly further angle, and there was a group of Empire scientists in white uniforms. The Empire scientists did not pay much attention, but I was stunned by one of their faces. If I remembered correctly, it was of Ockham!
Changing the image and zooming in, that face finally became clear. I was finally certain that this face was very familiar to me. It was none other than the old empire's top scientist, Ockham, who had caused us so much trouble in the past. In the end, he had died in the library because he had been too suicidal. Of course, I considered the possibility that they looked similar, but the high-level technician in the image was obviously the leader of the entire team. His clothes and the position he was standing in were enough to prove that. So, his identity was most likely not wrong. I never thought that this guy, who had been dead for so long, would still seize the opportunity to jump out and scare us. He actually appeared in a place like this!
Ockham was a core member of the Old Empire's Deep Submergence Project. Most of the related projects were led by him, including the design of the Deep Submergence Project's prototype. His appearance in the records confirmed the direct relationship between this universe and the Deep Submergence Project. It also meant that the research project that had been carried out here was probably even more important than we had initially anticipated.
At this time, the dying data terminal finally displayed the rest of the files.
File Header: Sample Analysis Project No. EN-166
File Generation Time: Ignored; File Generation Location: Ignored; File Review Officer: Chief Technician, Ockham
Sample Nature: Mild Abyssal Reaction — Physical Substance. Threat Level: D, Potential Threat Level: B. Conclusion of the previous review suggests that the threat level of the sample be increased in the near future and transferred to a higher-level analysis room for further study.
Sample Source: Inside the Gate of the Abyss. The collection site is located near the critical point. According to the conclusion of the previous analysis, it is speculated that the sample is highly likely to come from the other side of the critical point. There is a high probability that the sample was sent by the civilization on the other side. However, as no signs of activity or equipment of the civilization on the other side were found at the collection site, this conclusion is not considered as a substantial premise.
Detailed Information: One of the results of the 16th actual deep dive of the Deep Diving Ship. In this exploration, the Deep Diving Ship reached the limit of its previous deep dives but still did not cross the critical point. At the end of the second message sent by the Deep Diving Task Force, the EN-166 sample was found during a routine scan and determined to be a physical substance (this judgment has been confirmed). The EN-166 sample is the first physical substance found so far in the deep Abyss. After preliminary analysis, the sample has some detectable physical properties, including hardness and optical characteristics, but the sample cannot show mass and any energy affinity properties. The reason is unknown. At present, it is speculated that there is some kind of irreconcilable "incompatibility" between the products at the bottom of the Abyss and the World of Order. Statistics on the nature of EN-166 are still in progress. After testing a small sample, it was concluded that the power of the Abyss has a fatal destructive effect on EN-166. The process and result of its destruction are exactly the same as the reaction of the matter in the World of Order after being contaminated by the Abyss. The preliminary judgment is that EN-166 is not a natural product of the place where it was found. It may have been sent near the critical point for unknown reasons and discovered by the Deep Diving Ship. It is speculated that the "civilization on the other side of the Abyss" did it on purpose. Since it has not been able to establish a stable dialogue with the civilization on the other side, the motive cannot be determined.
Additional Edit: The nature of EN-166 has confirmed a situation that has been previously speculated: the products at the bottom of the Abyss, like the World of Order, are difficult to cross that gap. They — including the civilization on the other side — will also be damaged by the Abyss. It is highly likely that the sample was sent near the critical point under strict protection. Because the Abyss environment near the critical point is relatively calm, the sample was maintained for a certain period of time and was discovered by the Deep Diving Task Force. The "civilization on the other side of the Abyss" may want to use this to convey some kind of message or hint to the Empire. Further analysis is being performed to verify whether EN-166 can be replicated and whether it can be used to strengthen the defensive performance of the Deep Diving Ship.
Additional Edit: The stability of the local Abyss Gate has fluctuated. Multiple deep dives may have destroyed the underlying balance of the suppression system. The local project is ready to be transferred. EN-166 is included in the third transfer list.
Review: Chief Technician, Ockham. Review Memo: As a scientist, do not use too many vague words in the conclusive file. In addition, the project transfer plan is not part of the research conclusion, do not write it in the text.
Additional Edit: Yes, I understand.
Review Memo: This sentence does not need to be written in the text either!
Additional Edit: Yes, I understand.
Review Memo: Data missing, please check the backup memory.
That was all the information the MDT showed. It was a huge amount of information. I tried my best to focus on the middle paragraph and came up with a few very important conclusions: the Old Empire did know that there was a civilization at the bottom of the Abyss. It was unknown how the first contact between the two sides was established, but at least before the Deep Diving Ship was destroyed by Visca, they had a certain degree of information exchange. The Old Empire referred to the civilization at the bottom of the Chaos Abyss as the "Civilization on the other side." This coincided with the fact that the Chaos Abyss referred to the World of Order as the "Civilization on the other side." Secondly, the black shuttle in our hands wasn't the first thing that was sent from the "Civilization on the other side." Of course, the stone did not successfully cross the Abyss like the Black Shuttle. It was only sent to the so-called "critical point," which was the boundary between the civilization on the other side and the World of Order. Then, the Deep Diving Ship salvaged it.
And this workstation, before it was abandoned, was researching the stone from the other side. This was much more powerful than the stone that Monkey had jumped out of.
But unfortunately, the stone was probably nowhere to be found … Wait a minute, I seemed to have thought of something.
Here, dust of unknown origin could be seen everywhere.
"I don't think so," Shallow Shallow heard me say that. Even though she was simple-minded, she still felt that her guess was not very reliable. "Such an important thing, of course, should have been taken away along with the workstation. Why would it be left here to weather for tens of thousands of years?"
"Actually, it is very possible," Xiaoxue suddenly said. "Dad, Mom, Shallow Shallow, look at these records. The last record stops at the time when the first batch of supplies was evacuated. There is no more content after that. Maybe the data is corrupted, or maybe the second and third batches of supplies were not transported in time. And this sample marked EN-166 is the third batch of supplies that was supposed to be evacuated. According to the system log, the reason why the workstation was abandoned was that the stability of the Abyss Gate in this universe had fallen to the critical point and could no longer support deep diving activities. Maybe … there was an accident like the Abyss leakage, and the sample was contaminated, so they gave up. "
I could not help but reach out and knock on the information terminal next to me. "The sample was contaminated, so they gave up. That is possible, but … the workstation itself was not contaminated. Based on the contagious nature of the Abyss, it does not make sense that this building could be preserved after the Abyss leakage."
Godfather pondered for a while and made his own guess. "Maybe we can find the answer at the bottom of the storm. There is a Abyss Gate there. This universe was obviously destroyed because of it, but the storm left here is still suppressing the Gate of the Abyss, which means that either the explosion wasn't that serious, or it was suppressed after the explosion. I think it's the latter. "
I looked at the terminal that kept popping up a "data corruption" warning window. This ancient device had reached its working limit, and the last document before it was abandoned had been extracted. We did not get any more useful information. The last record in the terminal was only the evacuation and removal of the various research facilities and samples in the workstation. It did not include the whereabouts of the EN-166 sample. For now, we could only assume that the dust in the workstation contained the remnants of the weathered EN-166. But even so, the remnants were probably mixed with other samples that had not been evacuated in time.
The only thing that gave us a little hope was that the materials from the "other side" seemed to have one characteristic: the lack of physical and chemical properties. They were not compatible with the rules of the world of Order, so they would appear to lack mass, energy inertia, and unmeasurable and other strange characteristics. If the EN-166 still maintained these characteristics after being destroyed by the Abyss, we should be able to separate it from the weathered dust here.
After confirming that there was nothing else worthy of my attention in the workstation, I connected to the fleet on standby in the eye of the storm. "Inform the second research ship to charge the shield and prepare to enter the bottom zone of the storm."
"Oh, oh, Dad, we are finally going to explore?!" Xiaoxue immediately came up to me with a flushed face and a look of joy.
I looked at this high-efficiency, gold-equipped, limited-edition naughty child who had the ability to cause trouble for Lin Xue and join in the fun with Shallow Shallow. I slapped the back of her head and pointed to the surroundings. "You stay here and dig the sand."
"What?" Xiaoxue had a dumbfounded expression.
"Get someone to clean up all the weathered dust here and collect it." I pinched Xiaoxue's nose and stifled her protest. "When we get back, we will organize people to separate the remains of the EN-166 from here: if there is any."
Xiaoxue looked like she was going crazy. "Dad! You can't do this! I don't want to dig sand! I stopped playing with dirt after I was six years old … Hey, Dad, don't go! Hey! I haven't finished yet! Why do I have to watch people dig sand … "
"So, are we really just going to leave the child behind?"
Father couldn't help but ask as we boarded the engineering ship to rendezvous with the research ship. I turned to look at him and said from the bottom of my heart, "Do you know the four bear skills of the naughty child?"
Father: "?"
"Gather all the excitement they want, touch all the things they are interested in, weld detonators, saw light bulbs, and light firecrackers with gas cans. In the end, you have to deal with all the aftermath."
Father nodded in realization. "Oh, you are talking about Cyndia, right?"
I: "?! You have one like that in your family? "
"Don't mention it. Cyndia is a worrisome child." Father had a distressed look on his face. "She has a special background. She is more cunning than the adults. I don't even know how many things she has ruined. Using your words, she even dares to mix lime into flour. Back then, she even formed the Wind and Fire Duo with Icetis. Icetis fanned the wind, and she lit the fire. The two of them worked together, and the Brilliant Divine Court was in chaos."
I silently turned to look at Icetis. Out of the five Protoss Cops, she was the only one with us. The others were all helping out at the workstation. Elson was setting up the shield wall for the workstation, and the other three were in charge of cheering. Noticing my gaze, the female gangster instantly giggled. "Hehe, I was chosen to be the princess' study companion as the number one scholar in the God Realm back then. I hit it off with Cyndia …"
Father spread his hands. "After two hundred years of study companionship, Cyndia learned everything except for divine arts. Luckily, Katie wasn't with the two of them. Otherwise, our house wouldn't be livable. "
Something with order and consciousness, something completely different from the chaotic sea, was wandering nearby.
I thought about it and decided to go over to take a look. Although I couldn't explain how I moved, I did feel that I was getting closer to the Unfettered Traveler. Then, I heard a clear female voice. "Hey, little brother, are you taking a walk?"
I: "…"
"I didn't expect you to be a hiking enthusiast. Have you eaten yet?"
I: "…"
"Right, have you seen Xing Chen recently? He hasn't messaged me for a few days. I don't think he's that busy … Hey, look, look, six worlds are being born at the same time! Conjoined bodies! This might even result in multiple births. After a while, when it stabilizes, I'll put some life into it. The children will definitely like their new world! "
I: "… Sister Hilla?!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
